When Tuesday’s NHL draft lottery whittled down to two teams, and the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks were still on the board, Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson admitted he felt a sense of déjà vu — probably along with the rest of Chicago.
“Yeah, I did. I did,” he said with a smile. “I had a little flashback to last year.”
Last year, in the same scenario, the Hawks won the lottery and secured the No. 1 pick, which they used to draft generational player Connor Bedard.
This year there was no surprise ending.
The Sharks won the top pick, the Hawks landed at No. 2, and the rest of the draft order went chalk — right along the assigned lottery odds.
“That’s the way it went and that’s totally fine. I’m really happy with the way things went,” he said.
“I was way more nervous last year. Winning last year and having that in our back pocket made this year a little bit easier to navigate,” Davidson said.
“To be honest, it didn’t weigh on me that much. Last year, it consumed everything that I feel like we did, that we talked about. … It was just so much hype going into last year and it was just a different animal, so it felt a little bit different.”
Several mathematicians told the Tribune prior to Tuesday night’s draft lottery, broadcast live on ESPN, the Hawks had a 1.5% chance or better of winning back-to-back lotteries.
Davidson made sure to send the message that he didn’t view the second overall pick as a consolation prize, calling it a “win” several times.
“It wasn’t No. 1, but for us, the way we see this draft and what we’re able to acquire at the draft in June, No. 2 is a very big win,” he said. “We’re really excited. I can’t wait to dig in with our amateur staff next week to start the process of getting that board finalized or on the road to being finalized.
“Glad to know where we’re picking finally.”
“Yeah, I did. I did. I had a little flashback to last year. But that's the way it went and that's totally fine.”
—Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson on whether he had deja vu when the NHL draft lottery came down to the Hawks and Sharks (Chicago won No. 1 last year but got 2nd Tuesday) pic.twitter.com/yRb1FGqkV7
— Phillip Thompson (@_phil_thompson) May 8, 2024
The Hawks will pick second for only the second time in franchise history. They selected forward Andy Culligan in 1965.
It could’ve been worse. The Hawks could’ve slid to No. 4.
But when the lottery balls settled, and the numbers 3-6-11-14 came up in the second drawing, the Hawks retained the No. 2 pick, which aligned with their second-best odds at 13.5%.
Still, there’s no denying that for the last-place Sharks (18.5%), their winning combination of 2-7-10-11 was a franchise-shifting moment.
Landing the No. 1 pick for the first time in history, they won first dibs at consensus top prospect Macklin Celebrini.
While the Hawks almost certainly will miss out on the Boston University forward, they’ll have a host of elite prospects from which to choose. Many pundits peg Russian winger Ivan Demidov as the most likely No. 2 pick.
The 5-foot-11, 181-pound right wing from SKA St. Petersburg placed second among NHL Central Scouting’s final ranking of international skaters and first among forwards.
According to reports, Demidov has had injuries to the same knee twice in one season (October and April), and he’s under contract for another season in the KHL.
“We don’t have too much on medical stuff,” Davidson said. “I don’t think it’s any concern at all.
“As far as the player being from Russia, it’s so case-by-case and every player is different. Just like a North American or a non-Russian European, it’s always case-by-case. …
“You just have to do your fact-finding. If you feel comfortable — in this case, I’m sure the Russian question is, ‘Are you going to see them?’ — if you feel comfortable, then they’re just treated like every other player. There’s obviously some dynamics sometimes you have to weigh when it comes to players with contracts overseas, but I don’t necessarily see too many of those questions in this draft, as we stand here now.”
The Hawks have eight other selections in this year’s draft, including another first-rounder (No. 20, resulting from a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning) and three second-round picks.
The draft will be held June 28-29 at Sphere in Las Vegas.
